A Florida Marine veteran and congressional write-in candidate has been taken into custody after posting online videos in which he declared that President Donald Trump must be killed."
According to The Post Millennial, 35-year-old William Upham of Jacksonville was arrested by US Marshals and booked into the Duval County Jail. Upham has been federally charged with threatening to kill the president and, if convicted, faces up to five years in prison.
Jail records indicate that Upham was released on Thursday, July 16, despite the gravity of the allegations. The relatively swift release will likely raise questions among conservatives about the consistency of federal enforcement when threats are directed at President Trump rather than at left-wing political figures.
A complaint filed in federal court by a US Secret Service agent alleges that Upham posted two videos to social media on July 13, in which he attempted to justify killing President Trump by citing Bible verses. In addition to invoking Scripture, the complaint states that Upham explicitly urged viewers to take up arms against the Trump administration.
Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 11 states that the heavenly warrior will defeat President Trump and president [sic] Trump will be sent to hell with the beast, Upham reportedly said in one video, according to the complaint. He continued, God will help you. This is a call to arms. To all God's children, you must overthrow the Trump Administration on behalf of God.
In a separate video, Upham escalated his rhetoric further, declaring, President Trump is the anti-Christ and he will be killed and sent to hell. God will prevail against evil.
Upham, a write-in candidate for Floridas Fifth Congressional District, allegedly went beyond rhetoric and offered tactical guidance. The complaint says he recommended working in pairs, using semiautomatic rifles such as AR-15s, and selecting ammunition designed to be very effective at piercing body armor, while advising shooting patterns that would have a high chance of killing the enemy.
Court records and local reporting describe Upham as a lawyer and former prosecutor who was discharged from the US Marine Corps in 2025, according to the Florida Times-Union. President Trump has already survived multiple assassination attempts since 2024, underscoring the increasingly dangerous climate created by extremist anti-Trump rhetoric that too often goes unchecked in the broader political culture.
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